Crowd turns out in Exeter to laud N.H. governor elect: Some 200 attend reception for Hassan

Thursday

Nov 15, 2012 at 3:15 AMNov 16, 2012 at 8:07 AM

By Jim Haddadinjhaddadin@fosters.com

EXETER — Hometown pride was on display at Exeter Town Hall Wednesday night during a reception in honor of Gov.-elect Maggie Hassan.

The local Democrat was feted by roughly 200 people at an informal gathering sponsored by the Exeter Board of Selectmen. The upbeat crowd of well-wishers included many people who came to know Hassan during her time living and working in the community, as well as many other longtime political allies.

“It really all started here,” said Karen Prior, Hassan's fiscal agent during the campaign, and a friend of 20 years.

After launching her political career in Exeter a decade ago, Hassan captured New Hampshire's top elected office last week, winning the race to become the state's next governor.

Hassan served three terms in the state Senate before seeking the governor's post. She defeated Republican Ovide Lamontagne in the Nov. 6 election, winning about 55 percent of the vote.

Hassan will become the 81st governor of New Hampshire, and the fourth governor to hail from Exeter, following in the footsteps of John Taylor Gilman, who served from 1794 to 1805, and again from 1813 to 1816.

Exeter Board of Selectmen Clerk Dan Chartrand said Wednesday's event was an effort to transcend politics and offer congratulations to a neighbor who has ascended to prominence.

After circulating through the crowd, stopping to embrace and kiss many of her friends, Hassan briefly took to the stage, leading the small crowd to burst into applause.

Don Clement, vice chairman of the Board of Selectmen, read an official proclamation from the board, which was signed earlier in the day.

Clement said Hassan has brought an example of leadership crafted in Exeter to the statewide political arena, and offered congratulations and wishes for a successful tenure in office on behalf of the board.

During brief remarks, Hassan said New Hampshire residents showed once again this year that citizen democracy is alive and well in the state.

“When I have the opportunity to talk with people in the rest of the country … I will be bragging about this state,” she said.

She thanked her neighbors for teaching her family lessons about the importance of community in New Hampshire, and said the election was an affirmation of the idea that individual identity matters more than party membership in the state.

“You made me stronger every day, and I am so, so grateful,” she said.

Hassan was first elected to the state Senate in 2004, when she won the District 23 seat. During six years in office, she represented 10 communities: East Kingston, Exeter, Kensington, Kingston, Newfields, Newmarket, Newton, Seabrook, South Hampton and Stratham.

Hassan went on to become Senate president pro tempore, and was elected the Senate majority leader in 2008 during her third term in office.

A mother of two adult children, Hassan earned a bachelor's degree from Brown University and earned her J.D. from Northeastern University Law School. She currently lives in Exeter with her husband, Tom Hassan, the principal of Phillips Exeter Academy.

She was unseated in the 2010 election by Kingston Republican Russell Prescott, paving the way for her successful bid for governor this year.

Former Exeter resident Bette Henneberry was among those in the crowd Wednesday. Henneberry said she has been a Hassan supporter for a number of years, and has the political signs from past campaigns to prove it.

Henneberry said issues of importance to women, such as the right to make decisions about having an abortion, were her principal concerns during this year's election. Henneberry traveled to Concord earlier this year to march at a rally opposing the agenda of Republican House Speaker William O'Brien. She was motivated by concern that O'Brien and other Republican lawmakers would tamper with existing state laws surrounding so-called women's issues.

“They can't put us down, and I felt that's what Republicans were doing,” Henneberry said.

Also in attendance was the Rev. Nancy Rockwell of the Congregational Church in Exeter. Hassan and her family have attended the church for a number of years, Rockwell said.

Although the congregation includes parishioners of all political stripes, Rockwell said support for Hassan's gubernatorial bid was strong.